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"The face of the operation is Briatore (referred to exclusively in the film by his colleagues and angry, chanting detractors as "Flavio"), an anthropomorphic radish who spends most of his time at QPR plotting to fire all of the managers."

At press time, Harbaugh had sent Michigan’s athletic department an envelope containing a heavily annotated seating chart, a list of the 63,000 seat views he had found unsatisfactory, and a glowing 70-page report on section 25, row 12, seat 9, which he claimed is “exactly what the great sport of football is all about.”

Rose Bowl - New Contract With ESPN

According to the Sport Business Journal we get some insight as to why the B1G was so protective of the Rose Bowl during the playoff negotiations this summer. (Hint - it wasn't nostalgia or a desire to play in the Granddaddy of Them All.)

"This is the EMU game, not the emo game."

Interesting point. I think the potential difference is, in part, what happens to the TV deal money. Per the SBD article:

The Rose Bowl’s partners, the Pac-12 and Big Ten, keep all of that media revenue, except in years when the Rose Bowl is a semifinal game in the playoffs.

I'm not sure how the money is distributed under various playoff scenarios that were under consideration, but that would have to go into the equation. One advantage of the newly-announced regime is that in years the Rose Bowl is not a playoff game the B1G is guaranteed a payout, whereas under a larger field playoff system the B1G may not have a participant.

These are squirrely agreements, because they are negotiated so far in advance of the bowls. It's almost like landing a blue chip recruit. It is satisfying to do so, but you have to wait a few years to know how well you've done.

"Of course I care about that stuff. To the point of irrationality. It will always be Michigan first, cancer second." Jim Mandich (RIP)

Here's an article that describes some of the current formula and mentions that it may not change much, which would definitely leave the AQ conferences in the old system still taking home a majority of the revenue.

Considering that the revenue bump is projected to be 4 times the current system (which is in the neighborhood of $150 million or so each year, I believe), then I predict similar deals for the other bowls, but on the other hand, this is untested water - particularly with the valuation of the playoff games themselves, so I wonder if ESPN is basing their figures on closest analogous situation, which might be the NFL conference championships. It would be interesting to know how ESPN is valuing each bowl. This might be the deal that sets the tone for the initial valuation of these games though.

"Funny isn't it, how naughty dentists always make that one fatal mistake."